Priorities for bike paths in Hobart city area

The City of Hobart is currently seeking feedback from residents and visitors to the city on their draft transport strategy for personal transport. We encourage all riders to make input, and have offered you a full set of ideas on responses to give you a hand.

When it comes the building the bicycle network in this city, there is a lot to be done. To focus the attention of Council's aldermen and staff, we propose the following set of high priority action areas for 2017/2018:

Filling in the gaps in the Campbell St bikelanes - to connect the UTAS locations and the new Brooker Bridge to the InterCity Cycleway on the waterfront

Creating links between Elizabeth St and Augusta Rd - to provide a safer route for commuters from Lenah Valley

Improving the crossing of Molle St between the Hobart Rivulet Track and Collins St - to improve safety for the many commuters who enter the city via the Hobart Rivulet Track

Getting a dedicated bike lane in Collins St - to improve safety for commuters from South Hobart

Linking Collins St to the waterfront via Elizabeth St - the ICAP project on this must include a dedicated bike lane

Reviving the plan for a shared walkway around the Battery Pt foreshore - to connect the university's Sandy Bay campus to the city and to enable safer commutes for riders coming along Sandy Bay Rd

Improving the shared pathways on the Tasman Bridge - to make them wider and safer for all users.

These priorities are right in line with building the Hobart Regional Arterial Bicycle Network Plan (2009) - see the picture below. Compared with the 2009 Regional Arterial plan, the only lines in the Hobart city area that have turned from Red to Yellow (i.e. have been completed) are Morrison Street, Castray Esplanade and Sandy Bay Road. This is very slow progress!

In addition, it is time that the city installed its first protected bike lane. We have none so far, and all the data shows that we will not get significant numbers of people riding until clearly safe paths are provided. Collins Street would be a good candidate for separated protected bike lanes.